Ireland vs France

Ireland and France face off in the second weekend of the 2023 Six Nations. The two sides are currently at the top of World Rugby's global rankings, and each ...

From the resultant line-out, Ireland power towards the French line and slowly move the ball from right to left. Ramos sets off down the right before cutting inside to find support, with Baille, Alldritt and Jelonch all offloading before Penaud breaks through a tackle to sprint away and score in the left corner! The Irish build the pressure and Sexton fires a wide pass to Lowe. He has a clear run to the line and dives for the corner, getting the ball down before being put into touch by Penaud! He's stopped by Fickou metres short of the line and offloads to Hansen, but he's prevented from grounding the ball by Dupont showing incredible strength! He can't get the ball down thanks to incredible scramble defence from France, and the hosts will have a scrum five metres from the tryline! James Lowe looked to be in touch for all money, but he dotted the ball down just in time to get Ireland back into the game! 45 mins: France turn the ball over and race out of their own 22 on the counter. Byrne lobs the ball wide to Lowe, but he's put into touch and play comes back for the penalty. The free-scoring fun of the first half gave way to a second half dominated by the home side, and Garry Ringrose's late try capped off a magnificent display from front to back, securing the bonus point and putting Andy Farrell's side in control of their year's Six Nations. His players responded in tow, completely dominating contact, breakdown and set-piece throughout the second period to deny France a sniff of the try-line, before scoring one more of their own to cap of a resounding victory. Ireland reaffirmed their credentials as the world's Number One side with a fantastic display to stun France in a 32-19 Six Nations victory.

Ireland took a big step towards the Six Nations title and put down a marker ahead of the World Cup later this year as they battled to a thrilling 32-19 win ...

The best team in the world prove why they are just that. Ireland went over the tryline three times, the best of those coming through a stunning James Lowe finish out wide, but Damian Penaud’s try and the boot of Thomas Ramos kept France in touch at 22-16 down despite Uini Atonio’s yellow card. “It’s hard to sum it up in one word. [Six Nations](https://www.standard.co.uk/topic/six-nations) title and put down a marker ahead of the World Cup later this year as they battled to a thrilling 32-19 win over France in Dublin. It is a victory in a competition that we want to do well in. The fighting spirit was great but we also played some great stuff.

Updates from Saturdays Round 2 of the 2023 Six Nations as world No 1 ranked Ireland welcome France to the Aviva Stadium (2.15pm kick off) before Scotland ...

The Ireland vs France player ratings after the two best ranked sides in the world battled out a fierce 80 minutes of rugby in Dublin.

Turnovers: James Lowe (Ireland) – 2 Metres: Hugo Keenan (Ireland) – 202 Carries: Hugo Keenan (Ireland) – 18

France player ratings: Ireland hosted the reigning Grand Slam champions France in Dublin with the aim of securing their 13th consecutive...

[Hugo Keenan](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/hugo-keenan/) over the line with little indication that he was interested in tackling the Leinsterman in the opening minutes. He lost the chess battle with Sexton and [Ross Byrne](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/ross-byrne/) after him. Matthieu Jailbert was the hero last week but that hand-off from The French really lost their unit battle with the Irish back row. Was incredibly lucky not be sent off for a shoulder-to-head contact on Irish hooker Has that precious ability to ghost defenders like a bad Tinder date. Head coach Andy Farrell, who has yet to defeat Les Bleus, was forced to make one change from the previous week’s victory in Wales, as Dan Sheehan’s hamstring injury gave backup hooker [Rob Herring](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/rob-herring/) an opportunity to play. A helpful onlooker at times here though. Cast a long shadow over proceeding throughout and stayed in the fight when many of his teammates were flagging. Luckily for Penaud, referee Wayne Barnes did pick up a number of questionable tackles on After a shaky performance against Italy, the nerves weren’t long surfacing in Dublin, gifted Ireland an attacking lineout on the 5 metres 7 minutes in. Despite a less than impressive bonus-point win against Italy in the first round, head coach

Ireland player ratings live from Aviva Stadium: The arrival of France was the perfect moment to stress test progress under Andy Farrell.

[Tadhg Furlong](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/tadhg-furlong/) steeling their scrum and he was tops again here, even having the audacity to show that grizzly-looking tightheads can have the softest of hands. Would have been under pressure to be a good version of the ball-carrying [Dan Sheehan](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/dan-sheehan/) and he had his moments, including an early tilt at the line. Played the last 23 minutes in place of O’Mahony and he featured to positive effect. Thrown into the fray on 26 when the groggy Herring was hooked, he didn’t flinch in making his presence felt. Did get a warning from the referee to get out of his ear with the constant chatter about rucks, but other than that he was flamboyant and classy in everything he did. Was later involved in that extraordinary moment when [Antoine Dupont](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/antoine-dupont/) denied him from reaching out to score. Last week’s penalty trouble was a thing of the past here as he was immense in a wonderful battle between two excellent teams. Like a vintage wine, he is getting better with age and this will go down as one of his finest-ever performances for Ireland given the circumstances: his father is ill in hospital after a serious road traffic accident. There was a first-half moment when you wondered how influential he would be – he was the one who indicated for Hansen to garryowen and chase rather than offer himself for the pass when Penaud countered to score. Started with the bemusement of seeing a kick blocked by the aerial spider cam, but his second kick, which resulted in the French conceding a lineout five metres out, set the tone for Ireland. He had the hands to go with the heft in breaking the line and it’s only now that he is deservedly getting to show this at Test level. Four first-half tries – three to the Irish – had the crowd, both green and the visiting blue supporters, in raptures.

How can I watch it? The match is due to be shown live on ITV1, with coverage from 1.25pm GMT. Registered users can stream the game via ITVX.

A maul munching to create the space out wide, and Alex Cuthbert is sucked in as Russell attacks the line on the left. I’m not entirely sure in whose direction it was thrust, but it matters not as Finn Russell says enough of the tomfoolery and sends us to a close. Wales were wasteful but take nothing away from a ruthless Scottish performance, taking hold of the game in the second half and putting it out of sight. I think the boys put in a great performance today which was great to have back here at Murrayfield. For the first time since 1996, Scotland have won back-to-back games to open their championship, and they move level on points with Ireland at the top of the Six Nations table after another bonus point win. “We had a lot of changes, especially in the pack, and those boys showed the potential of where we are trying to go. George Horne taps and goes, oddly, and Wales’ day gets worse with another brandishing of the yellow card. It’s all over bar the shouting - and how Murrayfield will shout after this. It feels like there is still more to come from Scotland - and they’ll need it with a trip to Paris next before Ireland visit Edinburgh. “Again it wasn’t perfect but we did enough to get the job done, so we are delighted. You give a team like Scotland, they are full of confidence at the moment, front foot ball they are going to punish you. We were perhaps a little bit unlucky not to go in slightly ahead at half-time, but our second half we went back-to-back errors and put pressure on ourselves.